Nintendo Sued for Allegedly Stealing Gamevice Invention
The video game business is no game; it is all business.
That's the bottom line when it comes to Nintendo's Switch, a controller-console that slides onto a tablet computer to allow portable gaming. The company has sold almost 5 million units since March, boosting revenue to $1.41 billion during the first quarter this year.
The problem is, another company says Nintendo stole its invention. Patent game on.
Game On
Gamevice, which makes video game controllers that attach to tablets and smart phones, has sued to stop Nintendo from making and selling the Switch.
"Nintendo's infringement has caused, and is continuing to cause, damage and irreparable injury to Gamevice," the company said in its lawsuit filed in California.
The patent, first filed in 2012, describes a "pair of control modules" attached to a "separate and distinct" computing device. It was used for the Wikipad, an Android gaming tablet released in 2013 that is no longer in production.
But the Switch looks a lot like it.
Switch v. Wikipad
While the Switch already beat Wikipad in the marketplace, Gamevice still makes peripheral game controllers for phones and tablets. The company says that Nintendo is taking its business.
Gamevice is far behind Nintendo, which has risen nearly 150 percent in revenue over last year. It projects selling another 5 million Switch units this year.
In the meantime, Gamevice reported $12.5 million from investors in May as the market for mobile gaming grows.
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